To swear by the altar is not binding, but to swear by the offering on the altar is binding. How blind you are! Which is of more value: the offering on the altar, or the altar which makes the offering sacred? Whoever swears by the altar, is swearing by the altar and by everything on it. Whoever swears by the temple, is swearing by the temple, and by God, who dwells in the temple. Whoever swears by heaven, is swearing by the throne of God, and by him, who is seated on it.
Reflections
Which is of more value: the offering on the altar, or the altar which makes the offering sacred? Before his conversion, St. Augustine, one of the Catholic Church’s greatest theologians, lived a worldly life, siring a child out of wedlock. He confessed that it was the incessant prayers of his mother Monica through the years that allowed grace to finally penetrate his heart and illumine his restless mind. Do we believe in the power of intercessory prayers, which rests not in our completion of our novenas or the sincerity of our hearts, although necessary, but on the mercy of God who chooses to intervene in our lives and save us?
© Copyright Bible Diary 2018